FrameWorks Plus Write/Read for SAP2000/ETABS

A number of new utilities have been developed that allow the exchange of model
information between Intergraph’s FrameWorks Plus (FWP) and SAP2000 (or ETABS).
A model created in FWP may now be exported to SAP2000, where it can be modified,
analyzed and designed, and changes to the frame section properties may be imported
back into FWP from SAP2000 to update the model. Some of the highlights of the model
exchange are as follows:

 Physical Members – SAP2000 will recognize a FWP Physical Member, including

Start/End Location, Member Orientation, End Releases, End Restraints, and Section
Properties. Physical Members are assigned Group Names within SAP2000 to ensure
consistent Physical Member design
 Physical Arcs
 Material Properties
 Loads and Load Cases, including all Loads on Physical Members
 Load Combinations
 Members may be exported based on a SAP2000 Filter Selection Set
 Model may be exported in any set of Length and Force Units
 Export Attached Model – Structure and Loads from Attached Models will be
included in SAP2000 Analysis file. In addition to exporting this information, design
changes from SAP2000 can be imported back into the FWP model set

Application Programs
The five (5) FWP application program files (and their corresponding dialog boxes) that
make up the FWP/SAP2000 interface are as follows:

Sap2000.ma – SAP2000 master menu bar

Sap_exp.ma – FWP to SAP2000 model export dialog box
Sap_des.ma – SAP2000 to FWP section import dialog box (section updates)
Sap_seca.ma – FWP section database dialog box (creates a user controlled sections
database readable by SAP2000)
Sap_filt.ma – FWP to SAP2000 filter dialog box (user controlled filter options)

See Appendix B for information on how to configure your workspace so that FWP can
locate the SAP2000 applications.

Write SAP2000 Input

The File > Analysis > Write SAP2000 command activates the SAP2000 master menu bar.
SAP2000 provides an interface for exporting and importing with FrameWorks Plus.

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Select “Export” to start the process of creating interface files for SAP2000 containing
FWP geometry and loads (see below).

When you select “Export”, the model export dialog box will appear. This is the dialog
box where the user has control over which options are used to write out the SAP2000
interface files. The user can create files for the entire FrameWorks PLUS model or a
subset using the selection set option. If a FrameWorks PLUS model has attached
models, the attached models may be included in the export. As a minimum, the export
option will write SAP2000 interface files containing members, member geometry,
member releases and member supports. The FWP Physical Member name will be utilized
to create a SAP2000 Group Name even when splitting up the members into elements for
the analysis .

NOTE: The SAP2000 interface will not write out data for solid members – it will write
data for arc members.

Prefix for Export Mapping Files

Prefix for all of the interface files created for SAP2000.

Title
The job title is used by SAP2000 as an identifier for the problem to be run and appears
on printed output.
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Model Origin
The origin of the SAP2000 model can be specified either as “Coincident” or “Offset by
Point”. If offsetting by a point, you may either type in the coordinates of the data point
in the FWP design file that is to become the origin point (0,0,0) of the SAP2000 model,
or you may select “Define Shift Coordinates by Last Data Point”.

Length Units
The SAP2000 model can be created using any of the following length units: Feet, Inches,
Meters, Cetimeters, and Millimeters. The selected length units can be different from the
FWP model length units.

Force Units
The SAP2000 model can be created using any of the following force units: Pounds, Kips,
Newtons and KiloNewtons.

Match FrameWorks Length & Force Units

This item will be marked with “x” if the units selected match those of the FWP model.
The interface always starts with the FWP units – if different units are selected the “x” is
removed. To return to the FWP units, simply reselect the box.

Export Loadings
If selected, this option will write out all Loads, Load Cases and Combinations to the
SAP2000 interface files.

If attached models are being exported, the processing of loads will be done in the
following manner:

 During the initial export, if a load case is found which is not in the primary
model, it will be placed in the primary model at the time and a notation will be written
into the .log file.

 If load case properties in attached models conflict with the primary model load
cases, the primary model properties will be utilized and the conflict will be noted in the
.log file. Load cases are identified from one model to another by name only
(precise/consistent spelling is imperative!). It is important that the primary model
contain all load cases and it is desirable that attached models contain all load cases as
well.

 Load combinations from the primary model are the only load combinations
exported.

NOTE: Load case and combination names may not be changed. They must first be
deleted and then recreated, and they cannot be deleted if existing member loads are
associated with the name.

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Create Check Plot
This toggle enables or disables the creation of check plot graphics. This plot is simply a
view of how FWP interprets the splitting of members for an analytical model. SAP2000
may actually split the Physical Members differently from FWP, and will most probably
use different ID numbers for nodes and elements. This option is meant to provide only
an approximation of the analytical model. If selected, the “Show/Set Plot Symbology”
button will appear whereby you can define the level and symbology of the check plot as
shown below:

Check plot graphics may only be viewed when the levels containing the graphics are
turned on for viewing, and are best viewed in a “non-FWP view”. To do this, open a
non-defined view (or drop a FWP view). Turn on the plot levels and turn off FWP
levels. The check plot graphics are simply “non-intelligent” MicroStation graphics which
can (an typically should) be deleted with MicroStation delete commands after they have
been viewed. If saving the check plot graphics is important, it is suggested that the
graphics be “file-fenced” to a separate file and then deleted from the FrameWorks Plus
file as they take up substantial space.

Export Scope
This options allows the SAP2000 interface files to be written for either all members and
arcs or for just those previously selected using the selection utility (See Utilities > Create
Selection Set with Filter Selector on the SAP2000 Export/Import Dialog box).

If your FWP model has other attached models within the same project, you may select
“Process Attached Models” and the geometry and loads for the attached models will also
be included in the SAP2000 interface files.

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 Export FWP Geometry & Loadings
Once all of the parameters have been set and a title for the SAP2000 files have been
entered (you must enter a title for the “Export …” button to become active), this button
may be pressed to generate SAP2000 interface files. Once the “Export ..” button has
been pressed, a number of binary files containing the model data for import into
SAP2000 will be created in the interface “INT” folder under the project folder. For a
complete list of these files, please see Appendix A.

Please note that when creating a model containing Physical Arc members, FWP will not
allow these members to have loads, end releases or joint supports.

If the writing of the SAP2000 interface files is successful, the following dialog box will
appear:

This same information is written into a .log file.

Creating Section Properties

Prior to importing the FrameWorks Plus model into SAP2000, you will need to create a
file containing the section properties used in the FWP model which can be read in by
SAP2000. This is done by utilizing the Utilities > Create Section Property File from
Active FrameWorks Libraries as shown below:

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Selecting this item will result in the display of the following dialog box:

Section Property File Prefix

This is the name to be given to the file (binary) containing section properties which will
be used by SAP2000.

Select Project Library

Clicking on this button allows you to select from any number of section libraries for
inclusion in your SAP2000 section property file. You may also include your user library
if defined.

Section Filter
The criteria allows you to filter specific elements into the SAP2000 section property file.

Create Section Property File

Once a project library has been selected and a prefix for the file name specified, this
button will become active and pressing it will generate a binary file containing the section
properties (see Appendix A for file list). In addition to the binary file, a .txt file will also
be created which lists all of the section names.

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Importing FWP model into SAP2000
After Exporting the FWP Geometry and Loading, as well as Creating a Section Property
File, the FWP model may now be imported into SAP2000. To do this, start SAP2000,
and go to the File > Import > FrameWorks Plus menu item on the main menu bar, as
shown below:

When SAP2000 imports the model, it will perform the following tasks:

 Start a New Model. If you make changes to your FWP model, you cannot
update your SAP2000 model by doing another import – an import into SAP2000 will
overwrite any existing SAP2000 model. Please see below for the SAP2000 editing
options.

 All Physical Members will be divided into Frame finite elements as needed from
an analytical standpoint. Non-prismatic Physical Members may be imported into
SAP2000, but SAP2000 will not sub-divide these elements further for analysis.

 All Physical Arcs will be divided into multiple “linear” Frame finite elements for
analysis.

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  All the analytical finite elements in a single Physical Member or Arc will be
assigned a single design group name consistent with the Physical Member/Arc naming.
All design optimization and checking will be performed on the Physical Member/Arc so
as to be consistent with FWP.

 If Load Case and Load Combination names are more than 8 characters long they
will be truncated to 8 characters. If there is a duplicate name, the duplicate will be
renamed with the same name truncated to 7 characters plus a number to make it unique.

Once the model has been imported, you may perform the following activities:

 Define Grids
 Add loads to Frame members
 Add Mass to Joints
 Add Load Cases and Load Combinations
 Re-mesh Physical Members
 Add new elements to the model
 Change Frame section assignments
 Run the Analysis and Design, including optimization

Exporting Updated Sections to FWP

Any time after the Model has been imported into SAP2000, the Frame section properties
of the FWP Physical Members/Arcs can be exported back to the binary files created by
FWP by selecting File > Export > FrameWorks Plus. The export is performed only if
Frame elements are acceptable as checked against the FWP Physical Members/Arcs in
the following manner:

 Check that one or more Frame elements fully define the FWP Physical
Members/Arcs. NOTE: The user needs to be careful not to edit the structure in such a
way that there is no longer at least one Frame element that fully defines the FWP
Physical Members/Arcs.
 All Frame elements that define a Physical Member/Arc have the same local axis
orientation.
 All Frame elements that define a Physical Member/Arc have the same section
properties.
 Only the end of the Frame elements which define the start and end points of the
Physical Members/Arcs have end releases.

NOTE: Only the section properties assigned to existing FWP Physical Members/Arcs
may be updated. Any new elements, loads, changes to geometry, changes to materials,
changes to non-prismatic sections, etc. done within SAP2000 cannot be imported back
into FWP at this time. In addition, only sections available within the FWP Section
Library may be used when updating the FWP model.

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Read SAP2000 Results
The File > Analysis > Read SAP2000 Results command activates the SAP2000 master
menu bar. Select “Import” to read in the results of the Physical Members/Arcs selection
(design optimization) process and update the FWP model. In general, the five steps for
creating a FWP model to be analyzed and designed in SAP2000 are as follows:

1. Build the structural model using FrameWorks Plus, applying analytical attributes
such as Physical Member/Arc properties, loads, load cases and combinations.

2. From within FWP, create SAP2000 interface files using the Write SAP2000 Input
command as discussed above.

3. Import the interface files into SAP2000, and modify the model as needed. Run
the analysis and design options within SAP2000.

4. Once the analysis and design are complete, run the File > Export > FrameWorks
Plus, which will update the binary files in the “INT” directory under the project folder as
needed.

5. From within FWP, run the File > Analysis > Read SAP2000 Results command.

After executing step number 5, the following menu bar will appear:

Selecting “Import” will cause the “Import SAP2000 Section Changes” dialog box to
appear. Pressing the “Select SFC Mapping File” button will result in the following file
location dialog box:

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Files
Specifies the map file name associated with the SAP2000 interface files which now
contain the revised SAP2000 frame section properties.

Directories
Identifies the directory where the models listed in the Files list box are located.

List Files of Type

Limits the files displayed in the Files list box. The default filter is *.sfc.

OK
Reads the selected map file. FrameWorks Plus first verifies that the interface files
contain valid SAP2000 frame section properties and that the SAP2000 interface files
correspond with the active and attached FWP models.

Once the OK button is pressed, the updated “Import SAP2000 Section Changes” will
appear (see below). This box reports the comparison between the section sizes for the
Physical Members/Arcs stored in the results files and those in the model database, as well
as for those members stored in the attached models.

If sections sizes have changed, you may update your FWP primary model by selecting
the “Import SAP2000 Section Changes” button (this button will become active if the
Main Model has any members that require updating). If you have attached models, you
may update these as well on a model by model basis.

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 NOTE: Using the above procedure, you may update attached models in a non-
automated manner. However, you may update your main model and attached models in
a single “automated” step if you have loaded the sections import dialog box
(Sap_des.ma) via the load Utilities > MDL Applications rather than from the main
SAP2000 menu bar. See Appendix B for additional information on loading MDL
applications. Caution should be exercised when selecting this method as all models will
be updated in an automated cycle The process will begin with attached models requiring
changes and end with the primary model.

Appendix A
The following is the list of binary interface files that are created when exporting a FWP
model Geometry and Loadings as input for SAP2000:

Prefix for Export Mapping Files.SFC

Prefix for Export Mapping Files.SPF
Prefix for Export Mapping Files.SAF
Prefix for Export Mapping Files.SPL – Created only if loads are exported
Prefix for Export Mapping Files.SLC – Created only if loads are exported

An ASCII results file, Prefix for Export Mapping Files.LOG, is also created and should
be checked for information regarding the success of the model export.

The following binary file is created when creating a Section Property File:

Section Property File Prefix.SSC

along with the accompanying text file, Section Property File Prefix.txt. All of these files
are located in the “INT” directory of the project folder.

Appendix B
Tthe FWP/SAP2000 write/read commands are supported directly within the menu
structure of FWP 3.2. However, users with an older version of FWP may access the
SAP2000 interface files via manual execution of the SAP2000 master menu bar
application.

Whether the execution is through the FWP menu structure or manual, the five mdl
applications must reside in a directory pointed to by the MicroStation MS_MDLAPPS
environment variable. Please see you MicroStation reference materials for
Setting/Modifying the Environment Variable.

For users of FWP 3.2 and later, use of the FWP menu command is highly recommended
(unless automatic import is being utilized). However, the SAP2000 MDL application
program files can be manually activated in the following ways:
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Keyin
To manually activate the SAP2000 master menu bar, keyin the following “mdl l
SAP2000”. Similarly, keyin “mdl l SAP_DES” if you wish to update your FWP
sections from SAP2000 in the automatic mode. If the application is not found, your
environment variable has not been configured correctly.

MicroStation Menu Application

Via the MicroStation top menu bar under Utilities > MDL Applications. Scroll down the
available applications to Task ID “ SAP2000” – highlight SAP2000 and then click on the
load button. The following master menu bar will appear:

If you are unable to locate SAP2000 in the Task ID list under Utilities > MDL
Applications, your environment variable has not been configured correctly.

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